Smart books are expected to challenge netbooks, analysts say

Lead: The US IDG News Service published an analysis today that says smart Ben has a cheaper price and longer battery time than netbooks. With the Linux operating system to improve the user interface, access to more application support, based on the arm chip smart will gradually gain market acceptance, the use of Intel Atom Chip Netbook poses a significant challenge. The following is the full text of the article:

Sharp last week announced the launch of a mobile internet device called Netwalker, PC-Z1, to become the first small notebook product based on ARM chips. PC-Z1 has a 5-inch touch screen, 68-key QWERTY keyboard, and 10-hour battery endurance. The product is designed for users who rely on the web for cloud computing and will start selling in Japan by the end of September.

Before the end of the year, there will be a lot of similar products with bigger screens in the market. These devices will use ARM chips designed by companies like Freescale Semiconductor, Nvidia and Qualcomm. There are no mainstream PC manufacturers formally launched a small notebook based on ARM chips, some chip manufacturers call such products smart Ben.

In terms of keyboards and screens, smart books and netbooks have similar characteristics. But most netbooks use Intel's Atom chip to load Microsoft's Windows operating system. And Smart Ben was designed as an alternative to netbooks, the first smart book to use the Linux operating system, because the ARM chip does not support Windows XP.

Doubtful Market Prospects

But at least one mainstream PC maker has questioned the market outlook for smart Books. ASUS Computer CEO Shen Zhenlai said last week that he was not bullish on the market outlook for the Smart book, and that Asus had no plans to produce smart books. This June, Asus unveiled a small notebook based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon platform at the Taipei International Computer Show, which runs Google's Android open source operating system. It was in 2007 that Asus launched its first netbook-Easy PC, which was widely welcomed by the market.

Keith Kressin, senior director of Qualcomm Product management, disagrees with Keith Crissing. Crissing says the Smart book is a promising one, and smart Ben is better suited to users who rely primarily on cloud computing. "We're not trying to simulate a PC's user experience," he said. "Because arm chips are more power-saving than Intel's Atom chips, smart instincts provide longer battery endurance," says Crissing. He also highlighted other advantages of the smart book, such as continuous networking and faster start-up time than atom based netbooks.

Dan Olds, chief analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group, said the smart book's selling points included low prices and longer battery times, but the short term arm chips needed better application support to compete with Intel's chips. Ms Oates believes that if the software ecosystem around the Linux operating system develops, the smart book is expected to grow.

Crissing says Qualcomm's Snapdragon platform will support many operating systems, including Google's upcoming Chrome OS. He expects the Snapdragon-based smart book to go public in the fourth quarter. Qualcomm has said it is collaborating with Toshiba, Warburg Communications, Foxconn and HTC to develop Snapdragon based equipment. Crissing did not disclose whether these devices are smart books. Toshiba has released TG01 handsets based on the first generation of Snapdragon platforms.

Chip maker Freescale also advocates the use of ARM chips in smart books. Sharp's netwalker is using Freescale's i.mx515 chip. Glenn Bu Glen Burchers, head of the consumer department at Freescale, said a number of such new equipment would be listed by the end of the year or early next year, Netwalker the first of them. This type of product may initially be equipped with a 9-inch or 10-inch display. "Sharp's netwalker does not have 3G functionality, but the follow-on product will have 3G capabilities," says Mr. Beecher.

Linux as a barrier factor

The smart Ben based on Freescale Chips will initially load Canonical's Ubuntu Linux OS. But chip makers say this could hamper the promotion of smart books because smart books cannot support Windows XP, such as Windows.

Small laptops based on Linux have been slow to sell because many consumers favor Windows operating systems. In the past few quarters, the share of Windows operating systems in developed and developing countries has reached 90% and 70% respectively, according to Gartner, Gartner.

"Linux is the biggest problem facing the smart-market," says Chester. The key to the problem is not the problem with the Linux system itself, but the user interface. Linux was originally designed for computer geeks. But he says the Linux operating system with a better user interface will soon be on the market.

This July, Google announced that it was developing Linux based operating system Chrome OS, designed for users who are primarily cloud computing. Freescale and Qualcomm say they are collaborating with Google to develop Chrome OS. Canonical is also making significant improvements to the new version of Ubuntu Linux, which focuses on improving the user interface and ease of use, he said.

Analyst Oates believes that as the user interface is more user-friendly, with more application support, Smart will gradually gain market recognition, the netbook market poses a significant challenge.